Diablo III Kore

The Diablo series is one of the most revered in PC gaming. Taking influence from games like Nethack, they interpreted the complex mechanics of the rogue-like genre in a way that your average person could handle. It spawned an entire sub-genre of action-oriented RPGs, and it's still going strong with new releases such as Torchlight. However, Blizzard is working on the third game in the Diablo franchise, and while it's not being done by the original developers, there is still a lot of talk about it. The real question is whether or not Blizzard can live up to Blizzard North's vision of the franchise. There's a legacy here, after all.

Diablo 3's Background

Diablo III has a lot of elements pulled directly from the previous games in the series. Therefore, it would be more prudent to cover the background for the entire Diablo mythos rather than just Diablo III. After all, when everything is derived from the same set of characteristics, it matters not whether we are talking about Diablo II or III. It's all the same!

Diablo's story is a mixture of myths and gothic fantasy, and deserves recounting, starting with the first game. Possessing the body of the local king's son, Diablo twisted and manipulated the kingdom into weakening itself for his invasion. With an army of demons below the cathedral located in the destitute capital of Tristram, Diablo started to consolidate his power for an attack on the mortal realm. However, a hero managed to traverse the entirety of Diablo's vast underground lair and defeat him, shoving the stone that held the demon's soul into his forehead. Driven mad by the twisting corruption of Diablo, the hero set out tothe east, gradually becoming more and more lost to the powers of hell  as he went. Following in his wake were a collection of heroes from every walk- from necromancers to amazons - intent on destroying his evil once andfor all. Diablo's journey turned out to be a quest to give the three Prime Evils of hell physical form in this world, and the heroes defeated all three: Mephisto, Lord of Hatred; Diablo, Lord of Terror; and finally Baal, Lord of Destruction. Diablo III takes place 20 years after the destruction of the Prime Evils, with evil once again seeping out into the world.

The most obvious parallel in the Diablo series is that of the War in Heaven present in Judeo-christian mythology. In this story, Lucifer is cast from heaven for attempting to usurp god's rule with a cadre of loyal angels. Upon his removal from heaven, he and his angels formed the core of Hell's armies, with Lucifer going by many different names, including Satan. In the apocalypse, Lucifer/Satan will supposedly rise up and lead his armies against heaven once more, forcing humans to choose a side: heaven or hell. In Diablo, this translates to the Prime Evils, who were trapped by the arch angels of the High Heavens into three soulstones and cast down to earth. There the soulstone's power to contain Diablo gradually weakened, ending with him escaping his imprisonment and allowing him to free his brothers to corrupt this mortal world and bring about the apocalypse.

The three Prime Evils in Diablo are named after three representations of demonic figures in Judeo-christian mythology. The first, Diablo, is the Spanish word for devil, which makes the reference there very simple and straight forward. Baal is a term used throughout the Old Testament to refer to any god that was not Yahweh. It was used in a derogatory manner, and its connotation with evil, destruction, and falsehood has led it to be used in several settings to refer to an evil deity or demon. Mephisto is more recent, with origins in the classic myth of Faustus,a man whose interactions with devils put his soul on the line. Baal (as Bhaal) is notable in that it is the name of a deity in the Forgotten Realms setting, which spawned the classic Baldur's Gate RPGs (they revolve around his influence).

Along with the many references to demons and devils, the Diablo series pulls from the gothic style of literature and architecture to craft a dark and foreboding setting. The cathedral and the monastery in the first and second game both have very distinctive resemblances tothe gothic architecture during medieval times. The story itself is insidious in its implication of evil, mysterious story, and overarching plot. It's greatly reminiscent of gothic classics, and the influence there is unmistakable.

The gameplay influence on the Diablo series is much more simple than the complex stylistic background. Diablo pulls the rogue-like formula and changes it so that it is much more approachable for your average Joe. Rather than being turn-based, having an ASCII interface, and forcing players to permanently die quite a bit, Diablo is action-packed, good-looking and simple to understand. However, leftovers from the transition, such as randomization of levels, shrines, unidentified equipment, and procedurally-generated equipment all make an appearance here. In a way, Diablo is the gateway drug into games like Nethack, Dwarf Fortress, or Crawl.

While Diablo III is greatly anticipated (much like all Blizzard games), it is the continuation of a series that the current Blizzard had little involvement with. All of the old Diablo team has left to work on other games, including the brilliant composer Matt Uelman. It's not invalid to wonder if the current Blizzard can live up to Blizzard North's legendary legacy. After all, Diablo isthe measure by which almost every action-oriented RPG is judged over adecade after its initial release. Saying that Blizzard has a lot ofhistory to fit into the game is a massive under statement.

The most controversial decision of Diablo III was the change in art style. Rather than the gloomy art of the first game and most of the second game, Blizzard is taking a more cartoony, colorful approach to the visuals. This reflects their work on World of Warcraft, and while other games have taken a similar route and been successful (such as Fate or Titan Quest),  fans argue that Diablo's uniqueness comes from the art style as well as the gameplay. Dark, disturbing architecture and visuals are essential for a Diablo game. Whether or not this is true or not will be apparent once the game is released, but it is certainly a point of concern.

Another reveal is that most of the player classes from Diablo II will not return in the sequel. This caused significant uproar in the community, which slowly died down as time went past. The only confirmed returning class is the Barbarian, which acts as the warrior of the group. The two new classes are the Witch Doctor and Wizard, which roughly correspond with the Necromancer and Sorceress from the second game. It's also interesting that a non-canon class, the Monk (from Diablo: Hellfire), is a confirmed addition to Diablo III as well. It's worth noting that the class and skills system changed incredibly between the first and second games, so these new classes are less of a drastic change and more of a gradual evolution. Much like theart style, this is something that can really only be judged when in action.

The story for Diablo III expands greatly upon the mythos of the previous games, which arguably kills the gothic mood. Rather than having only what is directly relevant explained to the player, the world has been expanded into a planet called Sanctuary, with many of the details about races and history being revealed. While it's always cool to know more back story, it's also directly opposing to the mysterious mood of the previous games. After all, when you know the entire history, a lot of the drama and tension is taken out of the story. It transforms the story from one of forboding darkness to one of epic conflict. Turning Diablo into Lord of the Rings. A neat backstory is always cool, but sometimes you should not reveal it to maintain the element of surprise about the story.

There is no question that Diablo III will be a stellar game. After all, the basics of the sub-genre it created have been gradually refined over the years into some truly incredible games. The real concern is if Blizzard can finish what Blizzard North started. Will Diablo III end up more like Warcraft, or will it stay faithful to its roots? It's a hard judgement to make, as the Wrath of the Lich King shows that Blizzard can do dark and foreboding, but other titles show that cartoony and epic are their forte.

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Source: written by James Murff